Sucrose Experiment

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Pages: 4

Does the amount of sugar added affect the temperature of ice cream?
Purpose
The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of sugar on ice cream temperatures.
Background Research
Sucrose, commonly known as table sugar, is a covalently bonded compound. Sucrose is produced through the bonding of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. The elements share their electrons; therefore, creating a covalent bond with each other (Covalent Bonds, 2006). Sucrose is a naturally occurring substance that can be categorized as a carbohydrate. Sucrose contains two sugars named glucose and fructose. These two forms of sugar are considered to be less complex than sucrose itself (Science of Candy, 2016). Sucrose is not known to have a boiling point; instead,
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When sugar is added to the ice cream mixture, the sugar molecules cause difficulty in the solidification process. The ice cream’s solidifying process is slowed down due to the sugar molecules residing between the ice cream molecules. The sugar molecules create a barrier between the ice cream molecules making the freezing process more extensive. By adding sugar to any substance, it increases the density (California, 2016). This causes the ice cream molecules to be limited in their movements. This also limits the sugar molecule’s mobility. Because of the lack of movement, the two molecules are forced to intermingle, which leads to the sugar molecules residing between the ice cream molecules (Freezing, …show more content…
My hypothesis was that if sugar were added to an ice cream mixture, then the temperature of the ice cream would increase. For example, in trial one, two, and three, as sugar increases from one tablespoon to four tablespoons, the temperature increases from -2 degrees Celsius to -1 degrees Celsius. At the end of the experiment, when 10 tablespoons of sugar was added to the ice cream mixture, the temperature increased in trials one and three by three degrees from the original temperature. In trial two, the temperature increased by 4 degrees from the original temperature. This increase in temperature is caused by the sugar molecules inhibiting the cream molecules from forming a